Earrings, Earrings

I have tried a few new things in my beading. Feel a little more confident in my choices and colors, so haven't posted much about them. I've started making earrings - as both Chrissy and Samara both asked me to. They like earrings. I never wear them, so had no internal gauge of what looked good. This don't. But the girls have liked what I've sent them so far. So - here's the latest:




this one reminds me of my bead people!

This shot doesn't show the true color of the hanging bead.

So I tried to get it in the sunlight. it is kind of like a tiger's eyes gem stone. It isn't as dark as it looks in the first shot. The lower beads are a faceted, dark amber and has some silver on them. Cool.

This one if my favorite. I think it looks rather Victorian/romantic. Again, the lighting was dark - so I tried again.

This color is more accurate, but I couldn't get it hanging - which I think is a better shot.

And these are "Chrissy" earrings - she loves dragonflies. I'm looking for a good turtle bead for Samara. Maybe an angel earring? the shop in Nye Beach DOES have angel wings like the dragonfly ones.

Maybe take the one that reminds me of the "bead people" and add the silver wings? Tom wanted to share the picture that he got from Samara for Father's Day. She had gone to New York and got to walk right by the Dakota, where John Lennon lived with Yoko and Sean. It was where he was killed. She found a vendor selling this:

Anyone who knows Tom knows he loves John Lennon. She had quite an adventure actually getting the picture home to mail to him. (It took two trips....ask her sometime.)

Lennon has been the subject of several gifts between tom and Samara. She made a charcoal/?pencil? drawing of him for Christmas one year, which he loved. And another gift was the word "Imagine" written in large stencil form. Within each letter, she wrote the lyrics of the song in small script.

He mentioned that he wished he could go there sometime - see the Dakota and Strawberry Fields area of Central Park. So - now we are planning to go to see Matt & Samara in Philly at the end of August - and do some sightseeing of our own!

Got Flowers!!

In honor of "Wife's Day," Tom got me flowers! I told him there wasn't any wife's day and he said there should be - lol! So, I said there wasn't any "husband's day," and he shared that EVERY day is Husband's Day!!

What I loved is that the florist tried to sell him roses. I don't really like roses and Tom actually knew that! He told her was more a "daisies and wild flowers person!" How cool is that! I feel LOVED!

Summer Solstice

Today was the longest day of the year.

I have a different reaction to this than most people. Know what this means to me???

THE DARK IS COMING!!

I live for March 21st (the Spring Equinox), when the day start getting longer! I rejoice in the months between March and June!! I treasure and obsess over the days between June and September as the days dwindle down to the equal length of daylight and darkness. The Fall Equinox brings out my depression big time.

The Pacific Northwest has very diminished sun exposure in the fall and winter. It has grown to be an issue for me. I start dreading the darkness from this time of year. Crazy I know. But true. I don't mind the rain as much as I mind the darkness. Have to plan ahead to have coping skills in place.

From our position on the coast, we can actually track the movement of the sun from June until December. This time of year - the sun sets to the north of us. It will start moving south again until September, when it will be directly west of us. In December it will be setting to the south of us. Interesting to watch.

Maybe I will have to build my OWN version of Stonehenge! Have landmarks to mark it's progress across the yard!! Druids! where are you???

Summer Flowers!!

Gardening has become very important to me. I love my flowers! I think it is the opposite of what is occurring IN the house. I love watching them grow - day by day. Expand and blossom. It's just the best thing. It's something I can contribute to, something I can help.

Tom told me about this planter on one his trips to Wal-Mart. next time I went, I found one and bought it. I think I actually over-filled it - almost too many plants.... A cup of color and fragrance...

I attached a hanger I found in the garage to the deck rail. Turns out to be a good placement. The railing helps block the wind a little.

Found this at Wal-Mart too. I didn't want to place a box ON the rail, but the basket hangs over and the attaching hooks can be tightened to clasp tightly onto the rail. I bought some spreading petunias, and I think they will creep all over the rail and down the front of the basket before they are done! Next year I will get at least three more!

I am a big petunia fan! Simple little flowers - but I love how they spread and how fragrant they are! It's cool enough here that they will last until frost.

Another petunia pot - just another color. These are white - with a pink blush in the center. So pretty! You can see the dead bulbs in the pots on the deck. I have since dug them up and gotten they ready for another planting when October comes around. I'm hoping it will into a dedicated bulb bed by then.

This is the view from the second floor.

I've never gotten to plan the landscaping anywhere before. I'm looking forward to seeing the front yard look pretty again, like it did when my dad was alive. Having a home I am proud of is an old issue with me. I want it to feel like a home.

Front Yard changes

I took this picture back in April before we starting making changes. You can see the wheelchair ramp coming out from around the back of the house. We found it had dry rot and needed to be removed.

Our house faces west. There is a small grove of coastal pines between us and the road. We had the dead limbs trimmed up and tops trimmed last year, so they look very manicured now. I'm trying to create a little "glade" under there. Raking the pine needles is a never ending task!

There are overgrown flower beds on the north side of the driveway. My folks planted juniper in there - and it just took over. I HATE ground juniper. It killed the heather and everything else. It is like the cancer of ground cover! We took a chain saw and attacked the lower flower bed last summer. The top one is still a mess.

During May I started buying plants and planting. I have made several "color bowls" to put up on the deck by the kitchen window. That is where Mom spends most of her day and it gives her something to enjoy. This is what I did to the south side of the driveway. After I raked the needles enough - I discovered another flower bed! Who knew???

The second morning after planting them, I went out to water them and found THREE ground squirrel burrows had been dug right up in the middle of the plants. They had snacked on the petunias. Guess they thought I had created a buffet bar for them! Luckily - the petunia's weren't to their taste. They haven't eaten them all yet. Never touched the begonias...

We hired a couple to work on the yard when they have time. They have removed the wheelchair ramp and done a great job. They removed all the nails and stacked the still usable lumber on the side of the house. Now we have the material to do some shelves in the garage and to build a wood rack outside.

I wish my able-bodied sons-in-law lived closer and could help me with the yard. I really hope that I CAN get it finished this summer. I plan on building a tiered flower bed and using that for my bulbs this fall.

So many projects...sigh. Wish I was twenty years younger.

Roadhouse 101 - Lincoln City

Happy Father's Day, Tom!

I gave him his choice of eating out anywhere he wanted - like he did for me on Mother's Day. He picked a place in Lincoln City we have been talking about going to for quite a while...Roadhouse 101. It's a casual, fun place with road department accessories on the walls. Peanuts in buckets on the tables ...

Tom appreciated their choice in containers!

The shells went on the floor when you were done with them.

I picked spareribs - St. Louis style.

Tom chose a 16 oz. rib eye - is anyone surprised????

Mom enjoyed the outing and tried their fish and chips and enjoyed them. She refused my offer of a photo of her plate!! Poor Mom - what she puts up with!

Happy Father's Day all!

Heavenly Father - I love thee!

Anniversary - Woo-Hoo...

We have been living with my mom for a year now. Hard to believe....seems longer AND shorter. Don't know quite what to say about it. I STILL have very mixed feelings about being here.

Tom and I have talked and talked about this. We both think that if I had developed a "normal" mother-daughter relationship with her BEFORE her affliction, things would be different now. (Whatever a NORMAL mother-daughter relationship might be....) I can continually having to confront and deal with old issues. I truly believe that the Lord's hand is in this. Refining fire isn't a pleasant thing while you are in the crucible. These are issues I NEED to deal with. Charity is something I need to practice. Is it fun? NO! Do I feel supported through it all? ABSOLUTELY.

We have found routines that have built Tom's and my relationship and appreciation of each other. We treasure and enjoy our couple outings and times together. I have found great joy in working in the front yard, re-landscaping. I LOVE my flowers and working up a sweat in the yard.

I am totally addicted to beading. Love visiting bead shops, looking for patterns and projects on-line. I have been creating earring, necklaces, bracelets and odds & ends for my girls and grand girls. Sorry Preston, Cayden, and Briggs. But you will have your turn....


I plan on trying woodworking next. Want to make bird houses to hang in the small group of coastal pines that we have between the house and the street. (I found a woodworking craftsman who will cut patterns for me. He will make me some small boats for grand kids to decorate, if I ever have visitors again....)

Glenn Beck: The Letter

I heard this letter read on his show and was overwhelmed with the wisdom and truth in it. I wished I was a deep enough thinker to have have come up with it. It was like she wrote all the things I have been thinking - and did it eloquently.

You HAVE to read it -

Glenn Beck - Current Events & Politics - Glenn Beck: The Letter

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I love watching his show. This is one thing I found before Tom. I asked him if we could watch it - and he started putting it on for me and then would go to the computer. Before long, there he was watching WITH me. Before much longer, he was taking credit for having found Glenn. I'm SO glad he did. A voice of reason and truth in a time of "secret combinations."